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Ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in healthy newborn infants
1Department of Pediatrics and Cardiology, Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine, Ankara.
Insights
This study monitored 25 healthy newborns using 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography, revealing common, generally benign heart rhythm disturbances in infants. These findings help establish normal pediatric heart rate values and patterns.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Neonatal Health
- Cardiac Electrophysiology
Background:
- 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring is crucial for diagnosing arrhythmias and evaluating treatment efficacy.
- Previous research has established normal heart rate values in pediatric populations.
- Understanding normal heart rate and rhythm patterns in newborns is essential for identifying potential cardiac issues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the heart rate and rhythm patterns in healthy newborn infants.
- To establish normative data for heart rate variability and dysrhythmias in neonates.
- To assess the prevalence of benign cardiac rhythm disturbances in newborns.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring.
- Recruited 25 healthy newborn infants (ages 3-10 days).
- Analyzed heart rate, rhythm patterns, and documented any dysrhythmias.
Main Results:
- Maximum heart rate ranged from 175-231 bpm (mean 207 +/- 14 bpm).
- Minimum heart rate ranged from 60-121 bpm (mean 93 +/- 16 bpm).
- Average heart rate ranged from 130-161 bpm (mean 143 +/- 9 bpm).
- Prevalence of dysrhythmias included sinus dysrhythmia (20%), ventricular premature contractions (28%), supraventricular premature contractions (8%), and junctional rhythm disturbances (20%).
- No significant atrioventricular conduction disorders or tachycardia attacks were observed.
Conclusions:
- The study identified various generally benign dysrhythmias in healthy newborns during 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring.
- Results align with previous studies on newborn cardiac rhythms.
- Detected dysrhythmias in this cohort typically do not require treatment, emphasizing the importance of context-specific interpretation.
Abstract:
Twenty-four hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring is a useful method to document dysrhythmias and to assess treatment response. Various studies have been done in the pediatric age-group to determine normal heart rate values. In this study we determined the heart rate and rhythm patterns of 25 healthy newborn infants whose ages ranged between 3-10 days (mean 6.5 days). There were 15 males and 10 females. The maximum heart rate in these infants was 175-231 beats/min (207 +/- 14), minimum heart rate 60-121 beats/min (93 +/- 16) and the average heart rate was 130-161 beats/min (143 +/- 9). Five infants (20%) demonstrated marked sinus dysrhythmia, seven infants (28%) had ventricular premature contractions, two infants (8%) had supraventricular premature contractions, and five infants (20%) showed junctional rhythm disturbance. The sinus pause did not exceed 1.2 sec and there was no evidence of atrioventricular conduction disorders, or supraventricular-ventricular tachycardia attacks. Our results were consistent with previous studies carried out in newborn infants. Dysrhythmias were detected during 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in our study group. Since they were generally benign, they need no treatment.